Moriah 1a: The Intrinsic Protector
by Joni Latham
Summary: When you're human and your guyfriend is a vampire, who needs the police?


MORIAH: THE INTRINSIC PROTECTOR By: Joni Latham  
  
Two years had passed since the night Moriah discovered that Nick Knight, one of her fellow police officers, was a vampire. During that time, she unlearned everything she had been taught about vampires. Sure, there were bad ones just like there were bad people, but the majority of the ones in Nick's circle just wanted to exist in peace. One in particular had caught her eye, Nick's master, Lucien LaCroix. Even amongst the vampire set, he had a reputation of being a real bad ass. Nick warned her to stay away from him, but she saw something in his master that called to her. Where others saw malice, she saw loneliness, longing. It took a few months for her to gather enough courage to approach him, but when she did, she acquired the staunchest friend she had ever had. Since Nick did not approved of her association with LaCroix, she kept her meetings with the elder vampire to herself.  
Unlike all the stories circulation about vampires, she felt safer with Nick and LaCroix than she did with any human she could think of, except her father. Not only, could they handle pretty much any situation that came up, LaCroix had also arranged it so that the other vampires in his circle left her alone. She had many stories depicting how safe she was with her vampire companions. One of her favorites happened about a few months after she and LaCroix started keeping company and had nothing to do with police work.  
  
Moriah and LaCroix slowly walked up the sidewalk towards her apartment, neither one of them were in a hurry. As they walked, they discussed the ballet they had just seen. She wanted to reach out and take hold of his hand or have his arm around her shoulders, but knowing the type of reaction she could cause, she always allowed him to make those decisions. Almost as if he heard her thoughts, he reached over and placed his arm around her shoulders. She sighed softly to herself and leaned against him.  
They were a block away from her apartment when she saw two familiar figures walking up the sidewalk towards them. The two women called themselves family even though they were not even long-time acquaintances. The only time Moriah ever saw them was when they needed her help. Mary Karnie was a tall green-eyed redhead. Her friend, Susan Thompson was shorter than Moriah and was a brown eye-eyed brunette. Moriah thought that both women were pretty, but they always caused her a lot of trouble whenever they showed up on her doorstep. She disentangled herself from LaCroix's arm.  
LaCroix immediately stopped alongside her. "Is anything wrong, Moriah?"  
"I don't know yet." She stared at the pair walking towards her. "Lucien, see the two women walking towards us?"  
"Yes."  
"They always mean trouble for me."  
" Do you want me to scare them away?" An evil grin appeared on his face.  
"No, Lucien. Leave them alone, please."  
A look of concern immediately replaced the grin. "I will not touch them, I promise." He turned her to face him and stared into her eyes. "Moriah, I would never do anything to hurt you or anyone you cared about. You must know that by now."  
"I know that you would never hurt me, I wasn't sure about other humans."  
"I would like to keep you around for a while. If I hurt any of your friends, I would lose your company... I have come to depend on it."  
"Thank you, Lucien." She smiled softly.  
Her smiles warmed a part of his old vampire heart. When she first approached him, he did not know what to make of her. In the beginning, his curiosity kept her safe, because he wanted to know what made this little wisp of a woman tick. Soon, she caught him in her spell, and he would have done anything to keep her near him, except bring her across. Her power potential as vampire was too strong and who wanted a fledgling with the possibility of equaling them one day. He did not, at least not at this time. The giggling and loud voices of Mary and Susan interrupted her thoughts.  
"Moriah!" Mary yelled when she was still a good twenty yards away.  
Moriah took a couple of steps back as the women rushed towards her, causing her to bump into LaCroix. As she started to step up away from him, he put his hands on her shoulders and held her where she was.  
The women stopped walking a few feet away and stared up at LaCroix. "Moriah, we need your help." Susan spoke between breaths.  
"What's new?" Moriah murmured under her breath.  
"Why do you help them if they aggravate you so much?" LaCroix whispered.  
"I'll explain later," she answered. She turned to the girls. "Mary, Susan, what do you want this time?"  
Susan fidgeted ringing her hands together. "Can we go where we can talk, alone?"  
Moriah shook her head. She wanted LaCroix with her. "Anything that you can say, you can say in front of Lucien. Oh, I forgot, Lucien, meet Mary Karnie and Susan Thompson. Ladies, my friend, Lucien LaCroix."  
After they exchanged pleasantries, Moriah said, "All right, my time is limited. What do you want me to do this time?"  
Both women hesitated. They stared up at LaCroix, each shivering a little.  
Finally, Mary cleared her throat. "We have gotten ourselves in a little trouble."  
Moriah sighed. "Girls, that's nothing new. The only time that you ever come to see me is when you're in trouble." She glanced back at LaCroix, and then turned back to the girls. "Make it fast and to the point, as you can see I am rather busy."  
Now, Susan cleared her throat. "Mary's boyfriend was supposed to deliver a package for his uncle and was beaten up before he could deliver it. The guys that beat him didn't get the package but he's in no shape to deliver it. We promised him we would deliver the package, but we are scared in case the same guys came back."  
"You have a right to be scared and he had no right to ask you to do something so dangerous. So, now you want me to deliver this package for you?" LaCroix's hands tightened on her shoulders.  
"Not, exactly," Mary said. "We will do this one ourselves. We just want you to go with us."  
"What's in the box? Illegal drugs?" Moriah raised her eyebrows. "Laundered money?"  
"No, nothing like that. Paul's uncle is an archeologist and this piece needs to be delivered to the museum, but there are some people, collectors they call themselves, who are trying to intercept it," Mary explained.  
Moriah thought for a moment. It sounded on the level and they really did look scared. "All right, girls, I'll do it. Call me tomorrow and give me the details."  
"Oh, thank you. Thank you," Mary said, grabbing her out of LaCroix's grip and hugging her.  
LaCroix's glare was not wasted on Susan. She pulled on Mary's arm. "Come on, Mary. Let's go. We can call Moriah in the morning." She succeeded in pulling Mary away and they left.  
Moriah sensed that LaCroix was more than a little miffed, so she wrapped her arms around herself and slowly walked to the entrance of her apartment building. There were ten steps leading up to the door. She slowly ascended the steps. When she reached the ninth step, LaCroix appeared on the tenth step in front of her. He startled her and she almost lost her balance.  
Steadying herself with the railing, she looked up at him. "Lucien, I thought that you were angry with me."  
He reached down and placed his hand under her chin. "Moriah, I was not angry with you. I was angry with the humans for taking advantage of your good nature."  
She was relieved. "Are you coming up? If you are, I'll explain why I help them."  
"Yes. I am not quite ready to end this evening yet."  
Moriah pulled her key out of her pocket. LaCroix took the key from her and unlocked the door. They walked up the two flights of stairs to her apartment, and then he used the same key to open her door. All of the keys to the apartments also opened the door downstairs. He handed her the key, and then they walked inside. LaCroix took his usual seat in the chair that set across from her sofa.  
Moriah kept a bottle of blood in the refrigerator for him. "Would you like anything to drink?"  
"No, I'm fine. I'd like for you to set down and tell me about the two humans we encountered on the sidewalk."  
Moriah thought that it was rather funny that he referred to everyone by the term, "human," except for her. "Why do you call everyone else, 'human,' except for me? I am a human."  
He raised his eyebrow. "Not to me."  
"But, I am. One day, I will die. Unless of course, you bring me across, which you won't."  
"That's not the topic of discussion at the moment. Tell me about your friends and why you always help them, even though you seem to resent it."  
Moriah allowed the topic of her cross-over drop as she always did. She would enjoy his company while she could, then leave quietly when the time came. A few years were better than never knowing him at all.  
"Lucien, those girls or women, which ever you wish to call them, are my wards. Well, they were my wards. About ten years ago when I was first starting in police work, both sets of parents were killed in an auto accident. I was just as shocked as everyone else was when both wills named me, the girls' guardian. I was only twenty-eight at the time and the girls were fourteen. I didn't know the parents very well and no one ever knew why they picked me. I raised the girls until they were eighteen, and then they went out on their own. They come to me only when they need something. I still have a certain maternal instinct towards them, and I can't refuse their requests. It is something along the lines of you and Nick."  
He raised his eyebrow again. "What are you talking about?"  
"He doesn't ask for favors very often, but when he does, I have seen you do as he asks. Staying away from me is the only thing that I know of that he has asked you to do that you haven't complied with."  
"I think you've gotten off the subject again. Those humans are adults now. You should not put herself in danger to help them."  
"Lucien, are you worried about me? You shouldn't be, I'll be just fine. I can take care of myself."  
LaCroix stared at her, he did not intend to tell her that many times when she was out at night on duty without Nick, he followed her to ensure she remained safe. "I cannot stop you from doing what you want or feel that you have to do. I want you to promise me that you will come to me or go to Nick if you need help or get into trouble. Moriah, promise me?"  
Moriah smiled softly. "I promise, Lucien. If I need help, I will ask for it."  
"Good," he said, picking up a book from the end table. "Would you like me to read some more of the book tonight?"  
Moriah loved listening to his voice. It was what had attracted her to him in the first place. She used to listen to his Nightcrawler broadcast every evening when she was on duty. Usually after a night out, they would come back to her apartment and he would read to her from some of the old classics. He opened the book and read until she fell asleep.  
  
Moriah was not due to see LaCroix again until the next weekend, so he was unaware of her plans with Mary and Susan. If he had been, he would have insisted on going with her.  
She met Mary and Susan at a park just before dark. The plan was that the girls would pick up the package and deliver it to the museum. Moriah was along to keep an eye out for suspicious characters and act as shotgun. They walked to the bus station and retrieved the package from a locker. Mary put it inside her bag while Susan carried a decoy box wrapped in brown paper. Then, they left the bus station and walked along the sidewalk.  
When they reached an outside eatery, Moriah noticed some strange looking men following them. She had the girls sit down at a table, and then she took the decoy box from Susan and continued up the sidewalk, hoping the men would follow her. She checked her pocket for her revolver and felt the gun with her fingers. The safety was on, so she tried to remove it, but it would not budge. Four men followed her. Four were too many for her to handle without a gun. She tried several more times, but the safety catch would not move.  
The Raven, LaCroix's club, was only six blocks. If she could make it to the club, she would be safe. She turned in the direction of the club and picked up her pace. The men stayed right behind and sped up their pace to match hers. Two blocks away from the club, two of the men caught up to her. One grabbed one of her arms and the other man grabbed the other. She struggled against them, but they held her tight. She needed LaCroix or Nick, but she had no way to contact them or the police. As a last ditch effort, she dug the heels of her boots into the tops of their feet. The pain caused them to release her arms long enough for her to disappear into the darkness.  
She did not look behind her but ran as fast as she could until she reached The Raven. Grabbing the door, she jerked it open and ran into the middle of the bar filled to the hilt with vampire patrons. Many of the club members knew her and luckily, there were many familiar faces in the crowd. Several of them gathered around her obviously sensing that something was not right. A noise drew her attention back to the door as it was pulled open. The four men stepped into the club with their guns drawn and marched towards her. The vampires formed a line in front of her. She stepped back a few paces and bumped into someone. It was LaCroix. A wave of relief swept through her as she collapsed against him.  
"Are you all right?" he breathed.  
"Yes, Lucien, I guess so."  
LaCroix thought otherwise when he saw the bruise that one of the men left on her upper arm.  
"No, you are not," he growled where only she heard him. He reached down and gently pushed her behind him and stepped through the protective line of vampires. "Gentleman, what do mean by this intrusion into my private club? And, manhandling one of my friends."  
One of the men pointed his gun at LaCroix and yelled, "Out of the way! We want the bitch and the box."  
"I do not think so," he answered calmly. "Look around you."  
When the men looked at the vampires around them, they found all of them vamped out. All had fangs and their eyes were glowing. Moriah knew that there was no way to stop what was about to happen, but she also knew she could not stay and watch it or listen it. She took refused in the back room with her hands cupped over her ears.  
She was not sure how long she had been hiding in the storeroom when someone picked her up from her hiding place and gently pulled her hands away from her ears. LaCroix held her securely in his arms. He was still vamped out, although his fangs and eyes were slowly returning to normal. She quickly backed out of his arms and away from him.  
"You are afraid of me?"  
She shook her head. "No, I am not afraid of you. I could never be afraid of you. I just don't want to take any chances of causing something to happen that I know you don't want to happen. Honest."  
"I am in complete control. If you are not afraid of me, come here." He opened his arms.  
Without hesitation, she moved into his arms and he hugged her close to him. He kissed the top of her head, and then released her.  
"You do trust me?"  
"I said I did. I have to trust you, I couldn't be in your company as much as I am and not trust you completely."  
"It has been a long time since someone has trusted me."  
She smiled. "I don't know about the others but from the moment I met, you never gave me any reason not to trust you." She glanced around him to the door. "Did you and the others make a meal out of the men who were pursuing me?"  
"Is that why you were hiding back here?" he asked, laughing.  
She felt almost insulted. "Are you laughing at me?"  
"No, I am not laughing at you. You thought I would allow the others to kill them with you in the building. No, they are still very much alive, but they will not be quite the same for a while. He picked up her arm and examined the bruise, which was now turning a reddish-purple color.  
Moriah stared down at her arm. "It's nothing, really. It takes more than a bruise to stop me."  
He ran his hand over the bruise. "Were you helping those two human girls tonight?"  
"Yes, Lucien, I was."  
"Why didn't you call me? Moriah, you knew that I didn't want you to do this alone."  
She walked away and across to the door. "I was taking care of myself long before you came along. I'm not going to call you every time I do something remotely dangerous."  
LaCroix decided to let the matter drop. "Did your girls deliver their package?"  
"I don't know. I was the decoy to draw away those men, so that they could have a clear path to the museum."  
He walked over and picked up her hand. "Come on. Let's see if they were successful or if you risked your life for nothing?"  
"Sure. All right."  
He turned and pulled her through the back door of the club. They stepped out into the alleyway and walked around to the front of the club.  
"Well?" Moriah said. "What now?"  
"We will walk towards the museum and hope that we meet your humans on their way back from their delivery."  
"Why don't you fly ahead? I'll be fine if you can unlatch the safety on my revolver. It jammed earlier." She reached in her pocket, producing the gun.  
He took it from her and with very little effort, pushed the latch to the off position, then handed it back to her. "I will fly ahead only if you will walk fast and keep the gun drawn." He turned her to face him. "Moriah, if you need me, say my name. I will hear you."  
"Yes, Lucien."  
It should've bothered her to be subservient, but it didn't. He was only looking out for her and he much older and wiser than she was.  
LaCroix knew she did not like taking orders, so he very rarely gave her any. At the moment though, her life could be in danger and she had to listen to him.  
He flew towards the museum, watching the sidewalks in the area for signs of Mary and Susan. The girls were on the sidewalk in front of the museum. Mary had the package in her arms. He still did not trust them but there was no way that he was going to allow them to hurt or use Moriah again.  
He landed behind them. "Ladies, could you use some help?"  
They stared at him for a moment, and then a look of recognition crossed their faces.  
"You are Moriah's new boyfriend?" Susan questioned.  
LaCroix smiled to himself. In all practicality, he guessed that's he was. Moriah hadn't been out with anyone else since she had met him. "Yes, I am. I thought you might need help with your delivery."  
"You know about this package?" Mary questioned, looking down at the box.  
"Yes, I do. Moriah told me everything. She almost lost her life tonight, because of you two." His eyes began to narrow. "I came to ensure that the package was delivered. I will not allow you to hurt her or use her any longer."  
"And, how do you intend to accomplish that?" Mary asked.  
"Ladies, you do not wish to know." He started deeply into Mary's eyes and then Susan's. "All you need to understand is that you will stay away from Moriah after this. Hand me the box and tell me where it is to be delivered."  
Mary handed him the box and gave him the instructions. He walked towards the museum entrance. In the last year, he had things to protect Moriah that he would have never thought of doing before, such as allowing the two humans to live.  
Before entering the building, he gave the two girls an order. "Ladies, wait here for me to return."  
LaCroix had been in the building about ten minutes when Moriah appeared on the sidewalk beside Mary and Susan.  
"Where's Lucien?" she asked.  
"He took the package inside," Mary answered. "He should've been out by now."  
"Mary, what is in the box?" Moriah demanded.  
"I don't know."  
"Don't give me that. I know you. I know how curious you are. You opened the box. I know you did." Moriah grabbed her and shook her. "What's in the box?"  
Mary stared at her. "I-i-it's just an old cross. I believe it belonged to an old pope."  
"Cross!" Moriah yelled running for the museum entrance.  
Susan looked at Mary. "Has she lost her mind?"  
Susan shook her head. "I don't know. I do know that after this is over, we aren't going to ask for any favors as long as Lucien is around."  
Moriah ran through the doors, praying that the box was not opened in LaCroix's presence. Not being a vampire, she could not find him using her senses. She would have to depend on good old human deduction or she could just yell.  
She stood in the middle of the hall and at the top of her lungs, yelled, "Lucien!"  
Hoping that he kept his hearing tuned in to her, she looked up and down the hall, waiting for him to appear. She felt a tapped on her shoulder and whirled around to find him standing in front of her. He was still holding the sealed box.  
"What is wrong, Moriah?" he asked.  
She grabbed the box from him. "Oh, Lucien, you're okay."  
"Why wouldn't I be?"  
"The box contains a cross once owned by one of the popes. I was afraid you would open it or someone would open it in front of you." She shook her head. "I can't lose you. Not now."  
He reached over and touched her cheek. "You care for me that much."  
"Yes."  
He put his arm around her shoulders. "Shall get this over with?"  
She reached up and placed her hand on his. "All right."  
They walked to the office where the box was to be delivered and knocked on the door. When someone beckoned for them to enter, LaCroix waited outside the door while Moriah walked into the office. She left the door ajar and walked over to a desk sitting in the middle of the room. A small man with a balding head sat in the over-sized chair behind the desk.  
She set the box on the desk. "Here is your package," she said, turning to leave.  
"Not so fast," a voice said from the shadows. "Right, Professor?"  
Moriah noticed for the first time that the little man in the chair was shaking. "What is going on here?"  
The men, who had followed her, stepped out from the shadows guns drawn.  
"We want the box," the voice said again.  
"Well, take it," she said. "I won't stop you."  
There was a noise to her right and two more men stepped out of the darkness and walked towards her. The door was behind her and she could've probably escaped but she couldn't leave the professor behind. She wrapped her hand around her gun inside her pocket, and then she stepped around the side of the desk and helped the professor out of his chair.  
"It isn't quite that easy," the man said. "Can't leave any witnesses, you know."  
She looked around the room at the men and knew that she did not have a chance alone. It would be possible to shoot one or two but not all of them before they shot her. A little supernatural help was definitely needed.  
"Lucien!" she yelled.  
In the blink of an eye, she watched the guns fall from their hands. As the last gun fell, LaCroix landed beside Moriah. She drew her gun and held it on the men. The professor called the police while she and LaCroix pushed the men into a corner. When they heard a siren outside, LaCroix slipped out of the room, saying that he would meet her at the club.  
A police cruiser came and took the men away. Before she left for the station to fill out the report, she asked the professor to allow her to see what was in the box. He opened it in front of her and it contained a cross just as Mary said. She thanked the professor, and then followed one of the officers out to a squad car. Mary and Susan were still waiting on the sidewalk where LaCroix had told them to wait.  
Moriah tried to send them home bit released that LaCroix had control of them. Glancing absentmindedly around her, she spied him standing on the roof of a nearby building. Leaving the girls to me, she rode with the officers to the station. While she was writing up the report, Nick stopped by her desk. He made small talk and asked about the arrest. She watched what she said carefully so that she did not divulge that LaCroix had been with her. Afterwards, she took a cab to The Raven.  
A year ago, she would have not thought that it was possible for her to be in love with a vampire but he had always been there when she needed him, which was more than she could say for her human boyfriends. The door slowly opened and he stepped out on the sidewalk. He extended his hand to her while he held the door open with his other hand. She placed her hand in his and followed him into the club, letting the door close behind her. 


End file.
